Chapter 72: Chapter 72: The Ingenious Use of Mucus, Silencing by Killing

Jiufeng Ridge.

After Zhou Chun and his two companions returned to the Zhou Family and reported the results of their exploration of the underground river to the Clan Leader, Zhou Daoyi,

Zhou Daoyi was quite interested in the situation described by the three, asking in detail about their experiences on the trip, and even examined the bizarre fish Demon Beast’s corpse they had brought back.

Just as Zhou Chun had expected, Zhou Daoyi also couldn’t identify the origin of that strange fish Demon Beast.

Actually, this was normal, because Demon Beasts like these that dwell in underground rivers are seldom discovered by Cultivators.

Even if some Cultivators happened to discover such Demon Beasts, they might not necessarily take the time to record them.

After understanding the situation and examining the Demon Beast corpse that Zhou Chun and the others had brought back, Zhou Daoyi nodded slightly and said, “I understand the situation. Let’s put aside the matter of the underground river for now, and wait until the Foundation Establishment Cultivators in our family are free to explore it in detail—it won’t be too late.”

Having finished speaking, he then turned his gaze to Zhou Chun and said, “By the way, Zhengchun, deliver the remaining strange fish corpses you have to Hundred Medicines Peak, and give them to Jiawei. It seems he has made some progress in his research using the mucus from the bodies of those strange fish.”

Zhou Chun’s heart leaped with joy upon hearing this, and he quickly responded, “Yes, Junior will deliver them to Uncle Fourteen right away!”

Then, he hurriedly rushed to Hundred Medicines Peak.

Zhou Jiawei, who held the fourteenth position among his siblings, was also over seventy years old. He was one of the earliest Alchemists among the few on Hundred Medicines Peak to follow the late Great Elder Zhou Mingshan to learn alchemy and had been studying for over forty years.

Unfortunately, his talent for alchemy was not exceptional. Although he had studied for the longest period, he was not the one who had mastered it the most.

However, Zhou Jiawei, whose alchemy talent was not particularly remarkable, had quite a talent for poison research.

The strange fish corpse that Zhou Chun had previously brought was handed over to him by Zhou Daoyi for research.

Although less than a month had passed, he had already made some research findings.

When Zhou Chun came with several strange fish corpses and inquired about the research findings, Zhou Jiawei did not hesitate to share relevant information with Zhou Chun.

“After mixing the mucus from the bodies of these strange fish with a poison powder I formulated, the effect of the poison can be greatly enhanced. Even a first-grade superior Demon Beast would suffer unbearably when exposed to this poison!”

Suffer unbearably?

Zhou Chun was slightly taken aback by Zhou Jiawei’s words as well.

Then, after hesitating for a moment, he looked at Zhou Jiawei and asked, “Could Uncle Fourteen give Junior a small amount of that poison powder to experiment with?”

Unexpectedly, Zhou Jiawei flatly refused, “No, I haven’t devised an antidote for this poison powder yet. If you dare to touch it with your body, you will likely be in extreme discomfort for the next half month!”

Is the effect of the medicine really that strong?

Zhou Chun was also somewhat daunted by Zhou Jiawei’s words.

He looked at the stern-faced Zhou Jiawei, pondered for a moment, and then asked again, “Then in your opinion, Uncle Fourteen, can this poison powder be mass-produced? Can it be sold at the Spirit Beast Restaurant?”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jiawei immediately replied, “While the materials for making the powder are not easy to obtain, with the support of our family’s efforts, small-scale production shouldn’t be a problem.”

“The issue is whether we can secure a stable supply of that mucus, as well as the long-term preservation of the mucus.”

“Because the powder is only effective within half an hour after mixing with the mucus, once this time passes and it dries up, diluting it with water reduces its potency significantly!”

“Moreover, if we want to sell it in the Marketplace, we must develop an antidote. Otherwise, if someone gets their hands on it and uses it to target Zhou Family Cultivators, it would be like lifting a rock only to drop it on our own feet!”

After hearing his words, Zhou Chun’s face was already brimming with elation.

You could see Zhou Chun eagerly looking at him, his eyes sparkling, as he said, “Getting the mucus won’t be a problem, Uncle Fourteen doesn’t need to worry about that. As for preserving the mucus, maybe Uncle Fourteen could try using a bottle with a dual-layer structure, where the outer layer can be filled with water to act as a barrier.”

“About the antidote, I am ignorant, but if that strange fish itself is unaffected by the mucus’s toxicity, maybe we could investigate its skin?”

Zhou Jiawei truly was surprised this time.

He looked at Zhou Chun, astonished, and blurted out, “Nephew Zhengchun, do you also understand the art of poison? I’ve never heard of this before!”

“Uncle Fourteen, you misunderstand. I don’t understand the craft of making poison; I just happened to read about the relevant theories in a book, that’s all,”

Zhou Chun hurriedly waived his hands and smiled bitterly, promptly attributing his insight to the books he had read.

He indeed did not understand the art of poison. However, in his previous life, after all, he had taken classes in chemistry and biology; even if he didn’t grasp the detailed skills, he generally knew which direction to exert his efforts.

“I see.”

Zhou Jiawei nodded, not probing further about which book Zhou Chun had read it from and simply nodded in agreement, “You’re right, that’s also what I was thinking, which is why I asked you to provide more materials so that I could do more experimental research.”

“Then Junior will eagerly await the good news from Uncle Fourteen!”

Zhou Chun said, leaving Hundred Medicines Peak with a smile on his face.

Although the exploration of the underground river was somewhat disappointing, the research findings from Zhou Jiawei turned out to be an unexpected surprise.

If Zhou Jiawei hadn’t exaggerated the effects, then once he developed the antidote, that mixed poison, once on sale at the Spirit Beast Restaurant, would certainly sell like hotcakes!

After all, Demon Beasts are not like Cultivators; many of them, due to their own powerful defenses from fur or Scale Armor, do not use Protective Barrier Spells or, even if they do, would not cast them immediately.

If Zhou Jiawei spoke the truth about the poison’s potency, being effective upon mere skin contact, then certainly many cultivators would be willing to purchase it.

After leaving the Hundred Medicines Peak, Zhou Chun returned to Pagoda Peak to discuss this matter with Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi, mainly to request that he designate the matter as a family top secret, prohibiting Zhou Jiahe and Zhou Jiahui, who already knew the origin of the mucus, from disclosing this information to others.

As for the other cultivator who knew the mucus’s origin, Zhou Chun had already devised a plan to deal with him.

So he stayed with the family for two days and then returned to Hongya Marketplace with good news.

“This is wonderful, absolutely wonderful!”

“If the kind of poison Brother Fourteen described could really be offered for sale at our Spirit Beast Restaurant, we could surely regain the lost popularity, and perhaps even surpass others!”

Inside the Spirit Beast Restaurant, Zhou Jiasheng, upon hearing the good news from Zhou Chun, was so excited that he danced with joy, his face brimming with happiness.

The business of the shop was not going well, and no one felt greater pressure than him, the shopkeeper.

Now that he knew there was a way to extricate himself from the predicament, how could he not be overjoyed?

Therefore, when Zhou Chun said he needed to go out again to settle the issue of potential information leakage, Zhou Jiasheng didn’t think twice before he immediately agreed.

After Zhou Chun left the marketplace again, he quickly went to the home of the loose cultivator Luo Guangshun.

At that time, Luo Guangshun had just taken three more concubines and was busily engaged in pleasure-seeking every night.

He never expected disaster to strike from the skies!

When he saw Zhou Chun appear at his home, Luo Guangshun, who had come out in a rage from being interrupted, suddenly felt weak at the knees and nearly collapsed on the spot.

“Oh, it’s Taoist Friend Zhou!”

“What brings you to my door so late at night, Taoist Friend?”

Struggling not to embarrass himself, Luo Guangshun looked at Zhou Chun with a strained face, his demeanor and tone revealing subservience.

However, he didn’t ask how Zhou Chun knew where he lived.

At this moment, his heart was a mess of panic.

As a loose cultivator, what was his greatest fear?

Undoubtedly, it was having his residence discovered by other cultivators.

Loose cultivators’ homes are generally unprotected by formations.

Especially for someone like Luo Guangshun, who sought pleasure among the common folk, once his residence was discovered by other cultivators, it would be all too simple for others to harm him.

Now that Zhou Chun had suddenly arrived late at night, the words “to silence by killing” just wouldn’t leave Luo Guangshun’s mind.

In response to Luo Guangshun’s inquiry, Zhou Chun simply looked at him calmly and said, “I apologize for visiting so late at night and disturbing Luo Taoist Friend’s good time.”

Then, without waiting for Luo Guangshun to respond, he continued, “As the saying goes, ‘honest folks don’t speak in riddles.’ If I say I have traveled a great distance through the night just to have a chat with Taoist Friend Luo, you wouldn’t believe me, right?”

“So let me be frank!”

At this, Zhou Chun raised his hand and extended two fingers, saying, “Now, I offer Taoist Friend Luo two choices: one is to come with me to live with the Zhou Family for several years—our family will provide a good cultivation environment for you; the second is to fight me here and now, to the death.”

“I choose the first one!”

Luo Guangshun made his choice almost immediately after Zhou Chun finished speaking, not hesitating at all, while also feeling a great sense of relief inside.

He was just afraid that Zhou Chun wouldn’t give him any choice at all!

As for killing Zhou Chun, what a joke! He had heard from Liu Qingshan about Zhou Chun’s exploits, and knew that not only one of him, but even two or three of him bound together, would probably not be enough for Zhou Chun to kill.

“A wise choice.”

Zhou Chun nodded slightly, then looked at Luo Guangshun and said, “Then I will give Taoist Friend Luo half a night to prepare. At dawn tomorrow, please accompany me to the Zhou Family at Jiufeng Ridge.”

“Yes, Luo understands.”

Luo Guangshun agreed immediately, and at once called together his concubines and children to arrange his affairs.

Although he was reluctant to part with these people, he understood that he really had no choice.

He had to be grateful for Zhou Chun’s kindness for the outcome he got.

Having been involved in the Cultivation World for many years, he was all too aware of its cruelty.

Killing to guard certain secrets was not uncommon in the Cultivation World; in fact, he himself had been involved in such matters before.

The night quickly passed, and as dawn broke the next day, Zhou Chun set out for Jiufeng Ridge with Luo Guangshun, who had arranged his affairs, both of them riding horses.